MIDDLE EAST: Iran and world powers are set to begin the process of finalizing by 30JUN a deal on the country’s nuclear program.

TECHNOLOGY: US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson outlined the government’s discomfort with increasing implementation of encryption by technology companies while speaking at the RSA cybersecurity conference.

United States: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill to extend through 2020 a controversial surveillance authority under the Patriot Act. (WP)

United States: Attorney General Eric Holder said DEA head Michele Leonhart will retire in mid-May. (AFP)

Venezuela: National Assembly Chief Diosdado Cabello said he would sue three news outlets for publishing reports linking him to the drug trade. (AP)

ASIA

Region: Leaders of Asian and African countries called for a new global order that is open to emerging economic powers at the opening of the Bandung Conference in Jakarta. (Reuters)

Afghanistan: The Taliban announced it will launch its annual “spring offensive” from 24APR. (AFP)

China: Hong Kong’s government announced a roadmap for leadership elections that offered no concessions to the city’s democracy camp, prompting opposition lawmakers to walk out of the plan’s unveiling. (AFP)

Korea, South: The government and the US agreed a new nuclear pact allowing Seoul to expand its civil atomic energy program, wrapping up more than four years of negotiations. (AFP)

Thailand: Agriculture Minister Petipong Pungbun said the ministry was seeking to speed up the enforcement of the recently passed law regulating the country’s fishing following an EU threat to ban seafood import from the country. (AP)

EUROPE

Region: Italy pressed the EU to devise concrete steps to stop the flow of migrants on smugglers’ boats in the Mediterranean, including setting up refugee camps in countries bordering Libya. (AP)

Region: Kazakhstan rejected a proposal from Russian President Putin for the Eurasian Economic Union to be a single currency trade bloc. (AFP)

France: Interior Minister Cazeneuve said that police in Paris arrested a man allegedly planning an attack on churches. (AFP)

Spain: FM Margallo recalled the country’s ambassador to Venezuela for consultations, a day after Venezuelan President Maduro accused PM Rajoy of backing a conspiracy to overthrow his government. (AP)

MIDDLE EAST

Iran: The government and world powers are set to begin the process of finalizing by 30JUN a deal on the country’s nuclear program. (AFP)

Iraq: Officials reported that a car bomb near a car repair store in Baghdad killed at least seven people. (AP)

Kuwait: The government deported a prominent opposition figure to Saudi Arabia months after revoking his citizenship. (AFP)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Cybersecurity: US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson outlined the government’s discomfort with increasing implementation of encryption by technology companies while speaking at the RSA cybersecurity conference. (TechCrunch)